Liberi Fatali
by QuillForGlory
Summary: Previously known as The Whims of Fate. There are those whom Fate has called to a work, regardless of having little to no choice in the matter. For Harry, he thought it was simply to defeat Voldemort and end his reign of terror. Evidently, he was wrong. It was simply the beginning. [AR]


**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter or Merlin. This story is purely for entertainment purposes only.

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" _No young man, no matter how great, can know his destiny. He cannot glimpse his part in the great story that is about to unfold. Like everyone, he must live and learn."_

 _-The Great Dragon Kilgharrah  
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 **CHAPTER ONE**

 **You're a Wizard, Harry**

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Harry Potter could hardly believe his own luck.

He was actually allowed to join them on an outing to celebrate Dudley's birthday. Usually, Harry was left behind at the care of Mrs. Figg who lived two streets away while they were out. Unfortunately, the woman had broken her leg so she was unable to look after him. And since the Dursleys were fresh out of options for any available babysitter (because god forbid if they left Harry alone in their house), they were forced to bring him along, much to his cousin's horror who complained that his presence would spoil everything. Not that Harry had any intentions to do so. Honestly, he was just glad to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room where Harry was made to look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.

And now here he was, sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Dudley and Dudley's friend Piers, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. As this was also his very first outing given that the Dursleys had steadfastly refused to bring him along to family trips or give him permission to attend the school excursions, Harry was understandably over the moon. Not even the company of Dudley and Piers and the bullying he'd possibly endure at their hands later on or his uncle's earlier warnings could stop his excitement.

The weather was still sunny when they arrived at their destination. Since today was a weekend, the zoo was packed with people and their families. He had even gotten a taste of his first cold treat—a cheap lemon ice pop—when the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before the Dursleys could hurry him away. He was also careful to keep his distance from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers wouldn't fall back on their favourite hobby of hitting him in case they finally gotten bored at the animals in the area. Around lunch time, they ate in the restaurant inside the zoo, and Harry got to eat another sweet treat—a Knickerbocker Glory, it was called—when his cousin had whined that his serving didn't have enough ice cream on top. In the end, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and instead gave Dudley's unfinished sundae to Harry for him to finish.

All in all, Harry was having the best morning for the first time in his life.

After lunch they went to the reptile house. The place was cool and dark despite the wide windows all along the walls. Behind the glass cages, all sorts of lizards and snakes could be seen crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. The two boys wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. They got their wish when they found the largest snake in the place.

His cousin stood with his nose pressed against the glass as he stared down at the sleeping creature.

"Make it move," he whined at his father.

Uncle Vernon responded by tapping on the glass, but the snake didn't so much as twitched a muscle.

"Do it again," Dudley ordered.

Uncle Vernon once again rapped the glass, this time with his knuckles, but the snake simply remained unmoving.

Dudley, who was getting impatient, started knocking the glass, shouting, "Move!"

"It's asleep," Harry told him, slightly annoyed.

"This is boring," Dudley grumbled, huffing. They decided to move on to search for another snake to gawk at while Harry opted to remain in his spot.

He stared at the snake. No company except for stupid people knocking their knuckles on the glass trying to disturb it all day long—no wonder it was ignoring them, trapped as it was. In a way, it was like being confined all day in a cupboard but only so much worse where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up. Harry shuddered. At least Harry got to move around and explore the rest of the house unlike the poor thing.

He was so absorbed looking at the creature he didn't notice that he was no longer alone.

"Gorgeous isn't he?" spoke a cheerful, enthusiastic voice. "He's a Boa Constrictor; I read about their species in a book before. They are known as one of the largest snakes in the world, along with the Reticulated Python and Anaconda. Not poisonous, of course, but they are said to be just as deadly as they appeared."

Harry observed his new company. A girl about his age had joined him, standing to his left. She was dressed like those prim and proper girls belonging from those families that the Dursleys liked to associate themselves with. From her clothes and her seemingly posh accent, Harry deduced that she must be some daughter of a well-off family. She didn't seem like one of those snooty rich kids though. In fact, she seemed amiable.

Like him, she was also looking at the snake in fascination. She must've felt his eyes on her for she turned to face him. Suddenly, Harry found himself being the receiving end of her appraisal and he couldn't help but flush at the attention. Awkwardly, he shifted his feet. Did he have dirt on his face or what?

"I'm sorry but have we met before?"

Harry blinked. "I don't think so. No." He would have remembered meeting someone like her if he did. She wasn't exactly hard to forget with her golden hair (which was currently tucked neatly into her hat) and twinkling bright eyes that strangely reminded him of the sky.

"I see," she said, frowning slightly before shaking herself out of it. Smiling, she said, "Well, I'm Cathy. Nice to meet you."

"Harry," he said.

"Do you come here often, Harry?" she asked conversationally.

"This is my first time here at the zoo actually."

"Oh! So today must be a special occasion, then."

"It's my cousin's birthday today so I'm here with my relatives and my cousin's friend to celebrate. What about you? Are you here with your family?" She didn't seem to be accompanied with anyone else though.

Cathy shook her head. "Oh sadly no. Mother and Father are currently out of the country together with my uncle for work. I'm only here with two other people—friends of my family."

"They must be really nice people, bringing you here and all," said Harry, trying not to be envious. If only the Dursleys were ever like that towards him. However, the world would just have to implode first before it actually happened.

"They are." Then suddenly a wry grin appeared on her lips. "Though between you and me, I think they only agreed to bring me here for their own benefit. Otherwise I would have sneaked away without informing anyone to come here."

Harry failed to suppress a smile at that, especially at the way her eyes lighting up in delight. "Do you have any animal in mind that you want to see that much?" he asked.

"Oh yes. I'm very fond of snakes, you see, so when I heard about this place from a friend, well, I knew I had to visit!"

"You . . . like snakes?" Harry was surprised. After all, most girls generally thought snakes to be frightening creatures with their deadly fangs and bite.

Cathy must've known what he was thinking because she only raised an amused eyebrow at that. "What? Girls can have odd quirks too. Besides, I find that snakes can be quite friendly when the opportunity arises."

"Friendly?" his eyes wandered back to the boa constrictor, trying hard not to show the disbelief on his face. Honestly, there's nothing about its appearance which indicated that it was friendly. From the size of that thing, it could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into smithereens. Granted, it was currently sleeping, but still . . .

It was by that point when he noticed that the snake he was looking at was no longer sleeping and was, in fact, currently looking at them both in interest. If Harry didn't knew better, he'd think the snake had been eavesdropping on their conversation. He was later proven true when the snake tilted its head and winked its eye that could be possibly interpreted as: Well, go on. Don't mind me. I'm just a bystander~

Harry stared and stared for several moments. Then he looked to his left to see if the girl beside him saw that. Judging by the look on her face, she most likely did.

"Did you see that?"

She nodded. "I did"

"The snake . . . it _winked_ at me," Harry said, properly shocked. "Do you reckon it could understand us?" he asked excitedly.

A semblance of amusement appeared on her lips, smiling. "Who knows? Why don't you try talking it?"

Sensing no harm in trying, Harry regarded the snake with curiosity and spoke to the animal even though he wasn't sure if the snake could hear him. " _Um, hi there, Mr. Snake_ ," he spoke unsurely.

Apparently, the snake could hear him just fine. It waved its tail back in response.

Unable to contain his surprise, he gasped before leaning closer to the glass, forgetting everything else. " _So you can hear me!_ "

The snake bobbed its head.

" _Where do you come from?_ " came his question, looking very eager.

The snake pointed its tail at a little sign next to the glass.

 **Boa Constrictor, Brazil** , it read.

" _Was it nice there?_ " Harry asked again.

The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: **This specimen was bred in the zoo.**

" _So you've never been to Brazil?_ "

The snake shook its head.

" _What about your family? Are they at Brazil right now?_ "

A nod from the snake.

" _Oh, I see. You must miss them very much. I know I would. Though in my case I never really knew my parents at all._ "

Meanwhile, Cathy, who had witnessed the exchange with growing astonishment, stared at him in wonder. "You… you actually understood him!"

He glanced at her and blinked. Oh. He couldn't believe that he had almost forgotten about her due to the excitement.

"This is so exciting!" she suddenly exclaimed, beaming. "I take it this is not your first time speaking to a snake?"

"Actually, it is," he answered. And not for the lack of trying either. Though the Dursleys did have a back garden in their house, Harry, who was usually tasked to tend to it as per his aunt's orders, hadn't actually seen a single snake roaming in it; not that he would ever attempt to talk to it should he ever see one. He wasn't that suicidal. Seeing the snakes here in the zoo was, in fact, his first time seeing one in real life.

"Wait, really?" She seemed surprised by his answer, as if talking to snakes was a thing to do in daily basis (which in her case probably was if one would consider her odd fascination of them). "I wouldn't have thought so. You sound very fluent for someone who spoke the language for the first time."

"I'm sorry, what?" He wasn't aware he was speaking any other language aside from English.

But Cathy just resumed on her rambling, "Oh, this is amazing! To think that I'd be lucky enough to encounter another Parselmouth like me in here of all places . . . and a really brilliant one too." Harry flushed at the unexpected praise. "I dare say that I'm a little bit jealous of you for that, to be honest. Unlike mine, your hissing is actually very smooth and natural."

Harry started at that. "I was hissing?" he asked incredulously.

"Of course you were hissing." Cathy shot him a puzzled look, confused at his continued ignorance and confusion on the matter. "Didn't you know? Parseltongue, when spoken, is composed of hissing sounds similar to the noises a snake make."

"Parsel—what?"

"Parseltongue. It's the language of snakes," the blonde told him matter-of-factly, "And the individual who spoke the language is called a Parselmouth."

Harry's head was starting to spin with all the information.

"Wait. So I spoke a different language? But—but I didn't realized it! How can I speak a language without knowing I can speak it?" He definitely didn't hear anything like that before. He knew there were Snake charmers out there who hypnotize a snake by playing an instrument for a living, but he doubt him speaking to a snake and be understood by it was the same thing.

The blonde seemed to consider his question for a few moments.

"Well, father did tell me it's an inherited trait so perhaps that was the reason you can speak Parseltongue. Someone in your family tree might have been a speaker. You should ask your parents," here she paused, most likely recalling his statement about not knowing his parents, "or your relatives, for that matter," she quickly amended. Harry was not impressed at the suggestion though.

Asking the Dursleys? Ha. Not bloody likely. They didn't want him asking questions about his parents. What would the chances they would know, much less say, anything to him? "No. I don't think that's a good idea," he said.

Cathy's eyebrows furrowed at that. "Why? Was it because it's a sensitive topic? Well, I guess understand where they're coming from, given that Parselmouths aren't exactly regarded in a good light." She gazed thoughtfully at him then, her tone becoming grave, "Speaking of Parselmouths, you should really watch out about speaking the language in the future, especially when you're in public. You're lucky I don't mind and that I was the only one who overheard you this time."

"What do you mean?" asked Harry.

"Well, most wizards generally tend to be highly suspicious of Parselmouths. They are supposedly a mark of a Dark Wizard, you see, which is simply ridiculous if you ask me. What does being a Parselmouth have anything to do being evil really?" and she rolled her eyes at that.

Harry stared at her. " . . . Did you just say Wizards? Like magic and stuff?"

"That's right." She studied him curiously, baffled at his continued lack of knowledge, before her hand went up to cover her mouth as a dawning comprehension took on her features. "Oh. _Oh my goodness!_ How could I not see this before? Of course you wouldn't know what I was talking about! You didn't _know_."

"Know what?"

"Oh Harry . . ." The expression on her face shifted into that of reluctance. As if she didn't want to be the one to say it but knew that it had to be done because it would be the right thing to do in this situation. "Harry . . . you're a wizard."

And of course, Harry's immediate response to that was to laugh out loud.

"Wizard?" he wheezed in between bouts of his laughter after a few minutes later. "Come off it. Everybody knows that magic rubbish isn't real!"

But when she merely looked back at him looking serious, he finally sobered and shook his head. "Look, real or not, you've probably made a mistake. I mean," he turned away and rubbed the back of his neck. "I . . . surely I can't be a wizard or whatever, right? I'm just . . . Harry. Just Harry."

Cathy, however, thought differently.

"Well, Just Harry," she drawled lightly, "are you telling me that talking to snakes isn't magical enough for you?"

"Well, I . . ." he trailed off until his eyes caught sight of the boa constrictor again. It sent him a lazy flick with its tail and tongue with a look on its eye that said quite plainly: She got you there, mate.

"See? Even Mr. Snake agrees with me."

Harry frowned and turned to ask the creature. "Do you really?"

The snake nodded.

"WOW!" Harry and his companion jumped at the familiar shout. It was Piers standing behind them. Apparently, he had been wandering around and had seen Harry speaking to the snake and the snake bobbing its head in response. "DUDLEY! QUICK! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"

His cousin immediately came waddling towards them as fast as his body could allow.

"Out of the way, freak," said Dudley, shoving Harry in the way.

Caught by surprise, Harry flailed his hand around to grip at something in an effort to maintain his footing and had accidentally snag Cathy's sleeve along with him. Thankfully, he was quick to cushion her fall by wrapping his arms around her and rolling around so he would take the brunt of the fall. It hurt a lot actually but he was used to such treatment from Dudley and his friends so Harry chose to ignore his pain. He was more concerned at the state of his companion than his own.

"Hey, are you okay?" asked Harry, sitting up.

"Yes," she said before wincing. He turned to inspect her for anything wrong and found that she had apparently twisted her ankle. Seeing the guilty look on his face, she shook her head and simply gave him a small, if not pained, smile. "Don't worry about it, Harry. It's okay."

But for Harry, it was not okay at all.

Angered at her behalf, he inwardly berated himself before concluding that he wouldn't have accidentally grabbed her if it weren't for those two. So he redirected his anger and instead glared at two culprits who were currently leaning right up close to the glass, only to gasp when the two suddenly went tumbling down the boa's cage after the glass of the tank mysteriously vanished.

The great snake, realizing that it was now free, immediately uncoiled itself—ignoring Dudley and Pier's horrified screeching—and slinked out onto the floor, pausing only to look at Harry and Cathy with a few words with the words: " _Thankssss kidddosss._ "

" _Anytime_ ," they said at the same time before turning to look at each other.

There was a lot of screaming and people rushing away as the snake fled outside for its freedom. Amidst the ensuing chaos, he saw his cousin and his friend pounding on the glass of the tank and shouting for help. Apparently, the glass over the enclosure was back on its place and now they were stuck inside.

This was how his uncle and his aunt found them a few moments later.

Aunt Petunia ran to the glass, seemingly horrified. "Oh gods. How did you both get in there?!"

Harry drew back when Uncle Vernon set his furious eyes on him. "What did you do, Boy?!" he snarled.

"I—I—I didn't do anything, I swear!" Harry defended, suddenly fearing for his well-being. "One minute the glass was there and then it was gone!"

"Lies! This is clearly your fault!" The man unceremoniously grabbed him by wrist and yanked him forward. Harry vaguely heard Cathy gasp somewhere behind him at the action. "Whatever you've done, I want you to get them out! NOW!"

"I don't know how!"

Unfortunately, that was not the response his uncle wanted to hear. The man's hand rose in the air and Harry flinched, closing his eyes for the slap that was sure to come…

"What's going on here?"

Everyone turned to find it was one of the keepers of the reptile house, judging by the uniform he was wearing. Harry was hastily released as Uncle Vernon moved to stand beside his panicked aunt as she pleaded for his help to get the boys out.

"But how did they even get inside?" was the only keeper's bewildered response to the whole thing.

After they freed his cousin and his friend, the zoo keeper immediately directed everyone to the zoo director's office. Harry moved to follow them but instantly paused upon remembering the blonde and beckoned for her to come. Only, there was no response.

"Cathy?" he called again, turning to look back where he last saw her standing. She wasn't there.

Harry didn't get a chance to start worrying about where Cathy had disappeared to because Uncle Vernon was already calling for him to hurry up. He didn't want to evoke the man's ire again so he hastened to do as he was told, all the while scanning for any signs of the missing blonde on the way. Where could she have gone to?

As they sat on the comfy chairs and drank tea, it turned out that the reason they were brought to the office was because the zoo director wanted to personally offer his apologies over the incident. Piers and Dudley, each wrapped in a towel given by the zoo director, had babbled their experiences with extreme embellishments all the way back to Uncle Vernon's car until Piers, who was already calming down, suddenly stated, "—And Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"

Harry went stiff.

"Is that so?" was the only thing his uncle had to say to that while throwing him an evil eye through the rear-view mirror.

It was at that instant that Harry knew that the incident with the Brazilian boa constrictor would earn him a punishment, regardless of the fact that he didn't mean it to happen. Apparently, the Dursleys' motto was: if anything strange happens, blame Harry.

And that's how Harry found himself confined to his dark cupboard an hour later with an empty stomach. To distract himself from the hunger, his mind drifted to the pretty, friendly blonde-haired girl he met back at the zoo and why she just up and left him without saying goodbye. Maybe she have spotted her companions in the crowd so she left.

Whatever the case might be, Harry hoped to see her again in the near future. He had really enjoyed his time with her, brief as it was. At school, Harry had no one due to Dudley's gang threatening any potential friends he could've made. It was refreshing that he had someone to talk to that didn't shy away from him because of that.

Speaking of Cathy, Harry recalled that enlightening talk that they had. Now that Harry thought about it – strange, unexplainable things often did happened around him ever since he could remember. One time, Aunt Petunia had taken a pair of kitchen scissors to cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she purposely left "to hide that horrible scar", only to find his hair re-growing overnight. Another time, she had tried to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's which gradually shrank in size the harder she tried to pull it over his head. But the most bizarre thing that happened to him hands down was when he somehow reappeared on the roof of the school kitchens after being chased by Dudley's gang. Harry had initially assumed that the wind caught him in mid-jump after leaping behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors, but after that single conversation with Cathy and the cage glass vanishing, it made him reconsider the incident. About the odd, mysterious occurrences around him and the Dursleys' general dislike and treatment of him.

Was Cathy actually right? Was it because Harry was a wizard? If it was, well, it certainly would make sense if it was the case, wouldn't it?

Harry didn't know if he should be thrilled or scared at the fact. Perhaps it was both.

* * *

By the time he was finally allowed out of his cupboard again, the summer holidays already started. And while Harry was glad school was over, there was simply no escaping Dudley's gang, who visited the house every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon were all stupidly big, but as Dudley was stupidly the biggest among them, he was the leader. Whenever they were at the house, they wouldn't hesitate to indulge in Dudley's favourite pastime of Harry Hunting. And Harry absolutely hated Harry Hunting.

This was why he spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around the neighbourhood. During these moments, he would end up thinking about his magic and the ways he could use it properly. Ever since Cathy insinuated that he might possibly possess magical powers, Harry had immediately started experimenting with it to make sure it was there the moment he wasn't confined in his cupboard anymore (lest he accidentally blow something up by accident like his aunt feared that he would). He even made certain that he did it somewhere away from the house where no one could spot him doing it.

So far, his efforts weren't in vain. For some time now, he was able to somewhat float things in the air for a few inches. Sadly, it wasn't very stable at the moment; his ability to levitate objects was very weak and had the tendency to falter before collapsing within a few seconds. He was still working on perfecting it. Still, the fact that Harry was actually able to perform actual magic was a proof that he was what Cathy claimed. That he was a wizard. That he, Harry Potter, was a wizard.

He sometimes wondered if there were other people like him. Cathy, obviously, was one, though he hadn't really seen her use magic yet. She seemed quite knowledgeable so she must've known a lot of spells. He wondered if there's a book for it for him to peruse. Harry would have to remember asking Cathy about it _when_ he saw her next time.

Because Harry would definitely be seeing her again. Call it a gut feeling.

Aside from practicing his magic, slow going as it was, Harry had also something to look forward to. Starting this upcoming September, Harry would be attending a secondary school at Stonewall High and for the first time ever, he wouldn't be going with his cousin. Apparently, Dudley would be studying at Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings, along with the rest of his gang. Which was just as well, because the farther Harry was from his bully cousin, the better his life would be.

Finally he would be able to enjoy a semblance of a normal school life and make great friends.

Until one day something odd happened.

It happened during an ordinary morning in July. Everyone went down for breakfast and discovered a horrible smell coming from the kitchen which turned out to be from some of Dudley's old school uniform being dyed in grey by Aunt Petunia in the sink. Apparently, Harry was to wear them at his new school, much to his disgust and horror. Then came the click of the mail slot and the flop of letters on the doormat was heard and Harry was ordered to retrieve them.

Three things lay on the doormat: a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge, a brown envelope that looked like a bill and a letter addressed to Harry.

Harry stared at it. The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink. There wasn't even a stamp on it. Harry picked it up in curiosity. No one had ever written to him before, so who would write to him? He had no friends and no other relatives. It couldn't have been the public library; he hadn't borrowed any books from them.

. . . Could it be a letter from Cathy? Impossible. After all, how on earth did she knew his full name and where he currently lived? Harry clearly remembered not telling her apart from his name. Whoever was the sender knew him. They even had his exact address right down to where he sleeps at the cupboard under the stairs!

He turned the envelope over. On the envelope was a purple wax seal bearing a strange coat of arms: a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter H. He frowned. What does H mean?

Before he could contemplate any further, Uncle Vernon shouted for him from the kitchen about what was taking him so long, so Harry scurried back and immediately gave the posts to his uncle while he kept the one addressed to him. And just when he was about to open his letter, his stupid cousin noticed it and made a commotion. Uncle Vernon snatched it out of his hands. Then he and his aunt glanced at it and paled within mere seconds.

Harry tried to ask about wanting to read his letter, but the for some reason the Dursleys refused. That evening, he was suddenly told to move to all his things to Dudley's second bedroom. His cousin had protested as a result. Loudly.

Now he became even more curious. He really should've opened that letter in the hall.

He had resigned himself to the possibility of being unable to read the letter until another one arrived the next morning. This time it was addressed to him and his newest bedroom. Strangely, they seemed to know that he hadn't received his first letter. Or the fact that Harry had moved to a new bedroom. Would that mean that they'd try again until he read it?

When his uncle confiscated the letter from him once again, Harry at that point swore he would make sure that he would get to read its contents. His plan? He decided to wake up extra early next morning before his relatives did. Alas, his uncle appeared to have some inkling of his plan all along. He actually slept at the foot of the front door in a sleeping bag to make sure Harry wouldn't get his mail. The man had even stayed at home just so he could nail up the mail slot because the man was just that desperate.

And that's when things started getting out of hand.

As the letters couldn't go through the mail slot, they had been pushed under the door, slotted through the sides, and even forced through the small window in the downstairs' bathroom, so his uncle, who stayed at home again, was forced to board up the cracks around the front and back doors so nothing could go in. But the next morning, letters still made their way into the house, rolled up and hidden inside each of the two dozen eggs that their very confused milkman had handed Aunt Petunia through the living room window. In the end, Aunt Petunia burned all the accumulating letters by the fireplace while Uncle Vernon made furious telephone calls to the post office and the dairy place.

If Harry wasn't frustrated as he was, he would've laughed at the whole ordeal and maybe applauded the sender for their sheer audacity and tenacity. Seriously, they deserve a standing ovation for extreme effort alone.

Then Sunday morning arrived and Uncle Vernon couldn't be more pleased, thinking that there would be no letters coming that day seeing that there was no post on Sunday. Suddenly, something flew out from the chimney. And before they knew it, letters upon letters suddenly shoot out from the fireplace, flooding the whole room.

Seizing his chance, Harry leaped into action and reached for the letters, but Uncle Vernon managed to grab him. When Harry only struggled at the grip and shouted to let him go, the man finally lost his patience.

"THAT'S IT! We're going away! Far away, where they can't reach us!"

Ten minutes later, Harry found himself in the car with his uncle speeding toward the highway. Dudley was sniffling in the back seat with him, visibly upset after his father had hit him round the head for holding them up when he tried to pack anything that wasn't important. Even Aunt Petunia remained quiet on her seat. They just drove and drove. They didn't even stop to eat or drink all day. By nightfall his cousin was expressing his complaints of being hungry and missing his favourite TV programs by bawling like the spoiled brat that he was.

Eventually, Uncle Vernon spotted a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city and decided that they would stay there for the night. His uncle thought they were far away enough. But somehow, the letters still managed to arrive in their room the next morning again, so they were forced to go back on the road. Aunt Petunia suggested going home, tired of all the traveling, but Uncle Vernon wouldn't hear it and just drove them anywhere in the middle of nowhere with no destination in mind.

Exactly what he was looking for, Harry had no idea.

Later that afternoon, Uncle Vernon finally found them a new place to stay. On a tiny island was a miserable and shabby-looking hovel. The inside wasn't any better either. The whole place was dark and reeked strongly of seaweed. There were dust and cobwebs everywhere. Not even the wooden walls could stop the sound of the wind howling coming through the house.

Long story short, the house was horrible and just as equally depressing as his cupboard was.

Uncle Vernon, however, seemed pleased despite the gloom and doom of the place. Harry guessed he was just that happy to find some place where nobody would be able to reach them. Because surely no one would be dumb enough to deliver mail in this crazy, stormy weather. Or so his uncle had said. Harry, however, simply tried not to show his disappointment about it.

That night, as the storm raged ferociously outside, Harry stretched out on his spot on the floor under a thin, ragged blanked, unable to sleep due to cold and hunger. Turning over, he gazed at the lit dial of Dudley's watch dangling over the edge of the sofa on his wrist.

Ten minutes left and Harry would turn eleven.

Sighing, he lay back and stared unseeingly at the ceiling.

Some birthday this was turning out to be.

It was five minutes to twelve o'clock that Harry heard something creak outside. A few booms soon followed, shaking the whole shack. Startled, Harry sat bolt upright and stared nervously at the door where the sound came from. Someone was apparently knocking on their door. Aunt Petunia came barrelling into the room, followed by Uncle Vernon carrying what looked like a rifle in his hands. Exactly where his uncle had gotten a hold of that weapon Harry had no clue. Most likely through illegal means considering the UK restrictions of firearms.

When no one came to answer the door, the door, surrendering from its heavy onslaught, flew off its hinges. Out came the largest man Harry had ever seen in his life with long, shaggy hair and a wild, tangled beard. Dudley, upon seeing the man, immediately squeaked and ran to hide behind his terrified mother. Harry couldn't blame him. The man looked terrifying with his size.

"Sorry 'bout that," the stranger stated before picking up the door and fitting it back into its frame.

His uncle pointed his rifle at the intruder. "I demand that you leave at once! You are breaking and entering!"

"Ah, dry up, Dursley, yeh great prune," and the intruder reached over to bend the muzzle of the gun into a knot as easily. As if it had been made of rubber.

Aunt Petunia shrieked while Uncle Vernon made a funny noise under his throat, staring in disbelief at the state of his weapon.

The stranger then turned to Harry with a smile and Harry stepped back.

"Boy, I haven't seen yeh since yeh was a baby, Harry! Yeh look a little like yer dad, but with yer mom's eyes."

Harry, of course, just stared wide-eyed at him.

"Got summat fer yeh. 'Fraid I mighta sat on it at some point, but I imagine that it'll taste just the same." Here the man pulled a slightly squashed box from inside the pocket of his black overcoat. "Baked it meself. Words an' all."

Accepting the gift with caution, Harry proceeded to open it. Nobody had given him a present before, so he was rightfully excited for receiving one, even if it came from this gigantic man. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with pink icing and the words "Happy Birthday Harry" written on it in green icing.

Touched, Harry looked up at him. "Thank you."

"It's not every day that yer young man turns eleven, now is it?" the man responded before turning to sit down on the sofa. Taking out a pink umbrella, he points it at the direction of the fireplace and suddenly there was a roaring fire there, filling the whole place with light and warmth.

The Dursleys flinshed while Harry gaped at the display in awe. Magic! This man just did magic! Was he a wizard?!

Clutching the box tighter, Harry asked, "Excuse me, but who are you?"

The man smiled at him once again.

"Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts," said Hagrid before taking out something from his pocket and handing it over to Harry. "An' I reckon it's abou' time yeh read yer letter."

It was the familiar yellowish envelope that had been plaguing the Dursleys for days. Addressed in emerald green, it read: _Mr. H. Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea._

* * *

In the comfort of her home found a certain blonde-haired girl sitting by the window, a cup of unattended tea laid on the table beside her. On her hand clutched a small phone which she had done nothing but stared at for hours.

She had already put this off for far too long. It was only when he had last glanced at the calendar earlier this morning and saw the imminent deadline that she was reminded yet again of the choice she was going to make. She sighed. She had dawdled too much, it seemed. Procrastination at its finest, her mother would say with a click of her tongue.

She stared outside her window. It was already past one in the afternoon, where the sun was shining brightly above the British Isle; a little late making international calls. She had to consider the time difference as England was eleven hours behind New Zealand. It would probably around two o'clock in the morning over there. The last thing she wanted was to deprive them of their much needed sleep.

Perhaps it would be better to phone her parents in the evening when the time was much more appropriate for a conversation. Hopefully, they would be more receptive at the idea of Cathy attending Hogwarts.

* * *

 **IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE!**

For anyone who's asking, The Whims of Fate is **dead**. I did say there will be changes, though obviously not this big. I myself didn't expect it either. It's just that when I was writing TWoF's chapters, I decided that it was best if I scrap the whole thing and start from the scratch instead. Not just because of writer's block or the lack of time (which is evidently the case with us aspiring fanfic writers), but I ended up sharing similarities of ideas for my story with another author in this site . . . which was so not on. Not that I'm insinuating that this person is stealing my ideas or whatever. Simply that it was a coincidence that we ended up having the same idea (great minds think a like anyone? lol).

So I decided to come up with a much more different approach. Hence, Liberi Fatali (with a much more complex plotline) is born. And when I say complex, this story isn't just about Harry offing the Voldemort and a happy ending with Ginny like I implied in the story summary. Like TWoF, there will be new interesting characters to add (e.g. Cathy, for starters) and you will find that there will be major elements that will not be following the HP books, HP movies and Merlin TV series. **It's why this is an Alternate Realty fic and a very long one. Be warned of major changes in canon.**

Moving on, this is the pilot chapter, the unedited version. Hope you all like it and remember to leave a comment below. Don't forget to destroy the Follow/Fav button while you're at it. :)


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